Sunseeker
Every summer Apollo paints
the canvas of Mom’s shoulders
with swirling galaxies of birth marks
that harmonize to form
a warm, textured glow—
a coded testimony of decades of sun lust
Curled upon her lap, I gaze with wonder
at the gleaming speckled surface—
lyrics to the song of her youth,
clusters of notes from a time before me
How I long to know that sacred song
draped around her like a shawl
Oh, the remnants of bohemian summers—
basking on mud-caked river rocks,
cross-country wandering and
existential seaside chats with strangers—
now only memories on her skin,
like stars that shine on after their collapse
Curled upon her lap,
I connect the dots of her years to create
my own song of a mermaid queen
and her country inhabited solely by talking sea lions—
a silent song created by a dreamer like her mother
on the timeless river rocks of the Youghigeny.